Monitors

#1 To hear your productions and mixes properly measure the distance from yourself to the speakers (lets say 3 feet as a generic #) and place your speakers equal distance from each other as you are to them (3 feet). With you standing between them your now in a perfect “triangle” with you as the main point and the speakers are the base of the triangle. This will ensure you hear the stereo panning correctly.

#2 Place the speakers at ear level, if they are set too high or low (even by a few inches) the amount of freq. are lessened and the song can seem muddier/filtered. You will then end up trying to make up for the loss of freq. and make everything too “bright” and fatigue the ears.

#3 When purchasing speakers for production it is best to buy higher quality “monitors” that have a flat response to anything played through them. What that means is that the monitors do not add any extra freq. to music played through them. Unlike most “home theater” speakers which will add freq. and thus you will not be hearing the “true” overall sound of your song. Once you purchase them you will need to train your ears to be used to them but once they are all of the hard work will be worth it.

#4 Some people “break in” or “age” their newly purchased speakers before production to loosen up the speakers cones so they reproduce sounds more authentically. This can be done by various ways from computer and smart phone apps played through the speakers to playing a cd of an album on repeat (the music played should reflect the style you produce the most) for a good 24 hours. Not on full volume, but very close. This should be done with caution and you should do much more research in how to do it, if you should do it, and if there is a specific way to best do it with the speakers you have purchased.

#5 Using a separate sub speaker will help you hear the middle-low and middle freq. clearer as well as retaining a cleaner bass so you can discern the kick/bassline better.

#6 Cables do make a difference in the overall input/output of your music. If they are cheaply made and not protected from various electrical fields from other gear or by being too close to power cords you can get a “humming” sound coming through your speakers and/or recording gear. This will make it very frustrating when recording because you cannot get a clean signal without the “hum” coming through and once you record it you will spend more time trying to get rid of it instead of just making sure your audio signal flow is clean. If you do have a “hum” you need to unplug a cable at a time to find the source of the hum and fix as needed. Power conditioners, well made audio cables, tying audio cables together so they are not loose, keeping audio cables from power cords, and treating your equipment with respect will keep your signal flow clean and ready for a full days production.

#7 -If- you have the option to move your monitors away from the wall your facing, try to get them a few feet away from the wall so that “slapback” does not occur from the sound hitting the wall and bouncing back to you. Now this is very rare that producers can do this so you should try acoustically treating your room to bring down any slap back that can occur.